Photo By Kare Lohse

I was stationed on Attu from early August 1943 until summer of 1944. During that time (spring of 1944 if I remember correctly) Errol Flynn also brought his USO troupe to Attu as well as Shemya. It was held in the large building near the 8th Special Btn. that was used not only for movies, but also for many other things such as church services. The fine young Lutheran Chaplain was named Robert E. Lee (Guess where he was from). Some how, I was lucky enough to get selected to see the show. One of the members of the USO troupe was a young actress named Martha O'Driscoll. She was one of the Hollywood starlets called "sweater girls,” that looked really good in their tight fitting sweaters that were popular at the time. In one of the skits Martha O'Driscoll was one of the girls paying nurses. Errol Flynn was one of the guys playing their dates who were trying to talk the nurses into staying out later. Martha O'Driscoll said, "We really have to go in now, or we will be out after hours. Errol Flynn replied, "thats all right, honey, we're out after ours to.” At that, Martha started laughing so hard that her firm young breasts in that tight sweater put on a show that was a lovely sight to behold. When she had quit laughing, some guy in the audience yelled out, "Mister Flynn, make her laugh some more." At that, Martha started blushing and turned as red a beet. It was good to know that at least one actress in Hollywood still knew how to blush. Also in the USO troupe was a young girl that I sat next to in a college Sociology class. I remember that one time I had on a Scottish wool plaid shirt that used the same Scottish clan design as did this Coed's wool skirt. She was really cute, and was named "Betty coed" for some occasion or other. When the show was over I proudly told my Seabee buddies that I knew that girl. You can imagine how many of them believed one word of what I said. A little later, someone told us that the USO troupe was over at the Ship's Service, so we all walked over. Once there I went over to the table where "Betty Coed" was sitting (I can't remember her name) and had a nice visit catching up on what each had been doing since that year we were both at the University of North Carolina together. All of which made me a Big Shot---for all of about an hour. A little time after that some of us in the 8th Special Btn. got together and officially name Martha O'Driscoll the "Girl we would rather be behind the 8 Ball with." It gave both us and her some publicity. A few years ago I decided to see if I could find out what had happened to Martha O'Driscoll. I called the public library in Jacksonville, FL, and they gave me all sorts if information on her. It seems she had married a very wealthy industrialist from Chicago, and had left Hollywood. She became very involved in many charitable and other worthwhile causes, and was very generous with her time and her money. She and her husband wintered on one of the beautiful little islands between Miami and Miami Beach. I wrote her at her Florida address, and received a nice hand written response from her, thanking me for remembering her after all these years. S 1/c Robert H. Wright 8th Special Naval Battalion

#1. Some time in 1943-1944. The large Quonset Hut that was used for movies, church services, the Errol Flynn/Martha O'Driscol USO Show, etc. Also had showers and a sauna. As I remember, it was about a half a mile or so down a field from where our 8th Special Battalion was located.

#2. Taken during the winter of 1943-44.

#3. Mountain near our Stevedore Base.

#4. We were to go thru here to store ammunition in the mountains.

Originally Published 2/17/2008